Archives of American Art
Hilaire Hiler papers
Hiler, Hilaire, 1898-1966
AAA.hilehila
Archival Resource Key
3.8 Linear feet
circa 1898-1969
The Hilaire Hiler papers measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1898-1969. They illustrate his career through biographical materials, correspondence, writings, personal business records, printed material, and artwork.
English
.
Biographical / Historical
Hilaire Hiler (1898-1966) was a mural painter, designer, decorator, and writer who worked mainly in New York and Paris.
Hilaire Hiler was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. Hiler attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art, the University of Pennsylvania, University of Denver, University of Paris, and Golden State University. While living in Paris as an expatriate, he became friends with Henry Miller, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, and Anais Nin. After returning to the United States, he was named art director of the bathhouse building at the San Francisco Aquatic Park (1936-1939) which was a major Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.
Hiler was best know for his combining of his artistic and psychoanalytical training to create an original perspective on color. Throughout his career Hiler moved towards abstract imagery and by the 1940s his theories on color and abstraction developed into a movement he called "Structuralism".
Hiler died on January 20, 1966 at the age of sixty-nine.
Arrangement
This collection consists of six series.
- Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1927-1967 (.2 Linear feet: Box 1)
- Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1923-1966 (.4 Linear feet: Box 1)
- Series 3: Writings, circa 1928-1969 (1.4 Linear feet: Boxes 1-2)
- Series 4: Personal Business Records, circa 1898-1965 (1 Linear foot: Boxes 3-4)
- Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1916-1966 (.7 Linear feet: Box 3, OV 5-7)
- Series 6: Artwork, circa 1954-1965 (.1 Linear feet: Box 3)
Scope and Contents
The Hilaire Hiler papers measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1898-1969. Biographical material includes identification documents, certificates, licenses, membership cards, and a biographical sketch. Correspondents include Faber Birren, Kay Boyle, Marc Connelly, Caresse Crosby, Nancy Cunard, Ben Cunningham (to Hiler's daughter), John Ferren, Al Hirschfeld, Carl Holty, Robert Bruce Inverarity, Gyorgy Kepes, Katharine Kuh, Rico Lebrun, Fernand Leger, Albert W. Levi, Paul Mathews, Henry Miller, Abraham Rattner, Man Ray, Ad Reinhardt, Meyer Schapiro, Charles P. Snow, Edgar Varese, Herbert G. Wells, O'Brien Boldt, Jerome Flax, the Foundation for Integrated Education, Jay H. Herz, Charles Lavell, Jim Moran, Henry Schnakenberg, George Wittenborn, and William Carlos Williams. Also included is correspondence from Hiler's time spent in Paris in the 1920s. In the five Holty letters, Holty comments on aesthetics, color theory, the work of Abraham Rattner, Holty's painting, the history of modern art after World War Two, and his trip across America with Henry Miller and Rattner.
Writings includes several titled writings by Hiler as well as miscellaneous notes and writings and three notebooks. Also included are manuscripts for Hiler's autobiography and a manuscript for Color and Design: A Structuralist Approach (1955) which includes thirty-seven illustrations and diagrams. Writings by others are also present. Personal business records include multiple card files, materials for a course on color design, three photographs of artworks and a sales receipt, and various bills and receipts. Printed material includes clippings, one hundred nineteen miscellaneous items relating to color and design, published articles by Hiler titled "Costumes and Ideologies," "Some Associative Aspects of Color," "Structuralism," "The Search for a Method of Graphic Expression," and "The Origin and Development of Structural Design", materials related to exhibitions, and miscellaneous printed material. Artwork includes two sketchbooks, and seventeen loose sketches.
Conditions Governing Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Papers were donated 1967-1968 by Hilaire Hiler.
Related Materials
The archives also hold three articles by Hiler: "The Aquatic Park Murals", November 5, 1938; "Color in Architecture", and "An Approach to Mural Decoration" as well as a letter from Hiler to Joe Allen, State Supervisor, Federal Art Project, San Francisco and an announcement of a seminar on color directed by Hiler.
Existence and Location of Copies
Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reel(s) D302-D302a and 611-614 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Preferred Citation
Hilaire Hiler papers, circa 1898-1969 Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Processing Information
This collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared, by Allessandra Liberati in 2023.
Sketchbooks
Artists -- France -- Paris
Muralists -- United States
Psychologists
Hiler, Hilaire, 1898-1966
Biographical Material
Series 1
Archival Resource Key
.2 Linear feet
Box 1
circa 1927-1967
Scope and Contents
Biographical material includes identification documents, certificates, licenses, membership cards, and a biographical sketch.
Biographical Sketch
Archival Resource Key
circa 1959
1
1
Panorama Cultural, Interview
Archival Resource Key
circa 1955
1
2
Identification Documents
Archival Resource Key
circa 1933-1965
1
3
Certificates
Archival Resource Key
circa 1934-1958
1
4
Licenses
Archival Resource Key
circa 1947-1957
1
5
Membership Cards
Archival Resource Key
circa 1927-1967
1
6
Correspondence
Series 2
Archival Resource Key
.4 Linear feet
Box 1
circa 1923-1966
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include Faber Birren, Kay Boyle, Marc Connelly, Caresse Crosby, Nancy Cunard, Ben Cunningham (to Hiler's daughter), John Ferren, Al Hirschfeld, Carl Holty, Robert Bruce Inverarity, Gyorgy Kepes, Katharine Kuh, Rico Lebrun, Fernand Leger, Albert W. Levi, Paul Mathews, Henry Miller, Abraham Rattner, Man Ray, Ad Reinhardt, Meyer Schapiro, Charles P. Snow, Edgar Varese, Herbert G. Wells, O'Brien Boldt, Jerome Flax, the Foundation for Integrated Education, Jay H. Herz, Charles Lavell, Jim Moran, Henry Schnakenberg, George Wittenborn, and William Carlos Williams.
Also included is correspondence from Hiler's time spent in Paris in the 1920s. In the five Holty letters, Holty comments on aesthetics, color theory, the work of Abraham Rattner, Holty's painting, the history of modern art after WWII, and his trip across America with Henry Miller and Rattner.
Correspondence (1920s)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1929
1
7
Correspondence (1930s)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1931-1939
1
8
Correspondence (1940s)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1940-1949
1
9
Correspondence (1950s)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1950-1957
1
10
Correspondence (1950s)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1958-1959
1
11
Correspondence (1960s)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960-1961
1
12
Correspondence (1960s)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1962-1964
1
13
Correspondence (1960s)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1965-1966
1
14
Undated Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
circa 1929-1966
1
15
Personal Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
circa 1930-1965
1
16
Carl Holty
Archival Resource Key
circa 1940-1962
1
17
Henry Miller
Archival Resource Key
circa 1925-1961
1
18
Painting
Archival Resource Key
circa 1955-1965
1
19
Writings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1961-1962
1
20
Envelopes
Archival Resource Key
circa 1923-1960
1
21
Writings
Series 3
Archival Resource Key
1.4 Linear feet
Boxes 1-2
circa 1928-1969
Scope and Contents
Writings includes several titled writings by Hiler as well as miscellaneous notes and writings and three notebooks. Also included are manuscripts for Hiler's autobiography and a manuscript for Color and Design: A Structuralist Approach (1955) which includes thirty-seven illustrations and diagrams. Writings by others are also present.
By Hiler
Archival Resource Key
Autobiography, Manuscript
Archival Resource Key
circa 1940-1960
1
22-27
Color and Design: A Structuralist Approach (1955)
Archival Resource Key
Manuscript
Archival Resource Key
circa 1955
2
1-6
Illustrations
Archival Resource Key
circa 1955
2
7
Notes
Archival Resource Key
circa 1955
2
8
Titled Writings
Archival Resource Key
"About Castles"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1945
2
9
"Cafes"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1943
2
10
"The Casino De La Gaite: A Theatrical Theatre"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1942
2
11
"Color, Harmony, and the Artist"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1950
2
12
"Design and Scientific Method"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1946
2
13
"In Vino Dubitas"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1945
2
14
"Jesus Helps"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1946
2
15
"Knights of the Knight"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1959
2
16
"Le Theatre Du Chatelet"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1942
2
17
"Mental Process of the Primitive"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1945
2
18
"Mexico As I Did Not See It"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1950
2
19
"Modern Art and Schizophrenia"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1945
2
20
"No Fools No Fun"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1945
2
21
"Structuralism"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1957
2
22
"Structuralism: Science and Design"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1957-1965
2
23
"Why Structuralism? Explanation with Comparison with Music", Paris
Archival Resource Key
circa 1957
2
24
Notes on Teaching
Archival Resource Key
circa 1953-1959
2
25
Miscellaneous Writings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1928-1969
2
26-27
Miscellaneous Notes
Archival Resource Key
circa 1959-1961
2
28
"Paris", Notebook
Archival Resource Key
circa 1957
2
29
Notebook
Archival Resource Key
circa 1957
2
30
Notebooks
Archival Resource Key
circa 1965
2
31
By Others
Archival Resource Key
"The Creative Attitude", Abraham H. Maslow
Archival Resource Key
circa 1963
2
32
"A Non-Aristotelian Approach to Design", Norman T. Newton
Archival Resource Key
circa 1947
2
33
Miscellaneous Writings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1945
2
34
Personal Business Records
Series 4
Archival Resource Key
1 Linear foot
Boxes 3-4
circa 1898-1965
Scope and Contents
Personal business records include multiple card files, materials for a course on color design, three photographs of artworks and a sales receipt, and various bills and receipts.
Color and Design Course, Notes
Archival Resource Key
circa 1947
3
1
Card Files
Archival Resource Key
Places and Things
Archival Resource Key
Painting; Village, Paris, New York; Copenhagen-Berlin-Paris-Turkey; London-British Museum Trips-Brussels Antwerp
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960-1962
3
2
Spain-Portugal-Paris-Cagnes; Cagnes; Narcotics; Dingo; Psychoanalysis and Institute; New York in the Early 30's
Archival Resource Key
circa 1929-1960
3
3
Tehuantepec, Salina Cruz, D.F.; Hollywood, Sana Fe; Chicago, Santa Fe; San Francisco, London; Puebla; Paris and New York; New York-Atlantic Highlands
Archival Resource Key
circa 1935-1960
3
4
Philosophy
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960-1961
3
5
Creature
Archival Resource Key
circa 1956-1959
3
6
Long Meadow-Balto-Providence; Morris Heights, camps,Kewapin; Philadelphia, Pennsilvania-Salvation Lass.; Moses Brown-Long Meadow
Archival Resource Key
circa 1904-1960
3
7
People
Archival Resource Key
B-M
Archival Resource Key
circa 1954-1962
3
8
O-W
Archival Resource Key
circa 1954-1962
3
9
Writings and Painting
Archival Resource Key
circa 1940-1960
4
Artwork and Supplies, Bills and Receipts
Archival Resource Key
circa 1932-1965
3
10
Photographs of Artwork and Sales Records
Archival Resource Key
circa 1898-1920
3
11
Printed Material
Series 5
Archival Resource Key
.7 Linear feet
Box 3, OV 5-7
circa 1916-1966
Scope and Contents
Printed material includes clippings, one hundred nineteen miscellaneous items relating to color and design, published articles by Hiler titled "Costumes and Ideologies," "Some Associative Aspects of Color," "Structuralism," "The Search for a Method of Graphic Expression," and "The Origin and Development of Structural Design", materials related to exhibitions, and miscellaneous printed material.
Color
Archival Resource Key
circa 1949-1956
3
12
Fremont University
Archival Resource Key
1947-1950
3
13
Main Currents in Modern Thought
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960-1961
3
14
North America: A Continent in Conjecture (1929)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1929
3
15
Art Publications
Archival Resource Key
circa 1939
3
16
Brochures
Archival Resource Key
circa 1936
3
17
Clippings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1958
3
18
Clippings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1928-1965
5
Clippings, Scrapbook
Archival Resource Key
circa 1925-1930
6
Clippings, Scrapbook
Archival Resource Key
circa 1935-1966
7
Exhibitions
Archival Resource Key
circa 1947-1962
3
19
Press Releases
Archival Resource Key
circa 1950-1966
3
20
Miscellaneous Publications
Archival Resource Key
circa 1947-1963
3
21
Miscellaneous Printed Material
Archival Resource Key
circa 1916-1959
3
22
Artwork
Series 6
Archival Resource Key
.1 Linear feet
Box 3
circa 1954-1965
Scope and Contents
Artwork includes two sketchbooks, and seventeen loose sketches.
Sketches
Archival Resource Key
circa 1954-1965
3
23
Sketchbooks
Archival Resource Key
circa 1954-1965
3
24